Former high school football coach: UCF wide receiver Ereck Plancher was 'almost too perfect to believe'

Ereck Plancher Memorial Service

March 30, 2008|By Iliana LimM-sn, Sentinel Staff Writer

NAPLES -- Long before he was a UCF Knight, Ereck Plancher was a legend in east Naples.

Everyone knew Plancher was the person who would listen to their problems and dole out sage advice.

He was always ready to crack jokes and ease the pain when others were feeling down.

He was always ready to push his teammates a little harder, helping them reach heights they never imagined.

"If people try to envision the All-American kid, Ereck fit the bill," said Steve Pricer, who was one of Plancher's coaches at Lely High in Naples. "He was almost too perfect to believe. The other kids on the team used to tease him because they knew he wasn't doing some of the things that maybe they were doing. But they always ended up following Ereck's lead. They knew he was a special person doing all the right things."

Thousands of friends and family members crowded Lely High on Saturday morning to pay tribute to their fallen star. Plancher, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman on UCF's football team, died March 18 following an offseason conditioning workout on campus.

Plancher is survived by his father, Enock; mother, Gisele; sister, Getchens; and brother, Edwin. Ereck Plancher was buried a few miles from his family's home at Naples Memorial Gardens.

"He was the perfect son," said Enock Plancher, Ereck's father. "He worked very hard and did everything right for his family. I cannot even begin to describe the pain of losing him."

Plancher's friends are grappling with a similar searing pain, wondering how they will recover after losing their rock.

Ely Ducatel, one of Plancher's childhood friends and high school teammates, isn't sure who he will call the next time he runs into trouble. Ducatel struggled when he first started his career as a wide receiver at Youngstown State and leaned on Plancher for support.

"I got to a point where I wanted to quit when I first got to college because it was real hard, but Ereck told me, `No, you can't quit,' " Ducatel said. "He always was talking about how we had to rep Naples and put our city on the map. We had to stand out so that the younger kids in high school right now would get picked up by college coaches."

Nixon Joseph, Ducatel and Plancher were close friends who dubbed themselves The Three Musketeers. They were all children of Haitian immigrants who moved freely between each other's homes. They remained close after scattering to different colleges, relying on phone calls, instant messages and Facebook posts to constantly keep in touch. They planned to be the best men at each other's weddings.

"Ever since grade school, I can remember Ereck obeying his parents, doing his all and always being on top of his grades," Joseph said. "He had great character, and he respected everyone. I don't know of anyone who ever had anything against Ereck, other than on the football field."

Plancher's parents were strict but loving, instilling a strong work ethic in their children. They emphasized the importance of their Baptist faith, strong education and leadership in their community. Both parents worked, with Gisele Plancher often juggling two jobs to provide for her children.

Their sacrifice was not lost on Ereck Plancher. To this day, his friends marvel at the way he always brought honor to his family and never acted out as a rebellious teen.

While he was a straight-laced young man, Plancher also dreamed big.

"I remember going to Disney World with Ereck when we were in elementary school," said Wood Faugue, another childhood friend and former teammate. "We saw some NFL players there, and Ereck told me, 'I'm going to be like that some day.' He kept telling me he was going to do something big. He said even if it wasn't the NFL, he was going to go to school and do something big."

Plancher and his friends played Pop Warner football together while attending Manatee Elementary and Manatee Middle School. He emerged as a stellar student and showed flashes of athleticism in sports once he reached Lely High, but he was still a bit scrawny for varsity competition.

"He was just so determined to be the starting running back that his sophomore year, he was working out all the time," said Sam Baptiste, a longtime Plancher friend and high school teammate. "We would be tired showing [up] at 6 in the morning to lift weights, and he had already been there for an hour. He'd always say, 'What took you so long?' "

Plancher eventually molded himself from a scrawny reserve to the Lely football team's star running back. He had plenty of impressive individual performances, but friends and coaches say the defining moment came during his junior year.

Lely faced rival Naples in the Coconut Bowl for bragging rights and a state playoff spot in fall 2005. Naples had rattled off three consecutive shutouts in the series, once beating Lely 85-0. The Trojans fell behind 14-0, but Plancher helped lead Lely's rally for a 21-14 win.